


Awkward Family Matters

by MayDayGirl_Save_Our_Ships



Category: Danny Phantom, ParaNorman (2012)
Genre: Gen, Mystery Kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 00:21:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17254121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayDayGirl_Save_Our_Ships/pseuds/MayDayGirl_Save_Our_Ships
Summary: Danny Fenton and Norman Babcock have a chat on the roof of FentonWorks. Ghost stuff is complicated, but sometimes family stuff is even more so.





	Awkward Family Matters

**Author's Note:**

> This is a secret santa present for @kryptopine! on the mystery kids discord  
> This is not part of my mystery kids case files series, but I hope people like it anyways.  
> If you are interested in my Mystery Kids tumblr it's [ mysterykidscasefiles.](http://mysterykidscasefiles.tumblr.com/)

It was snowing when Danny climbed out onto the roof. The snowflakes fell from the sky in a light shower. There was just enough to leave a thin layer of snow on the roof of FentonWorks and for a few stray snowflakes to cling to his black hair.

Danny quickly spotted the person who he had been searching for. He was standing by the railing of the building looking out across the city skyline as the sun contemplated its descent.

Danny walked over to stand next to the fourteen year old boy. Danny was only wearing his short-sleeved t-shirt, so as the wind nipped at his bare arms, the halfa took a moment to enjoy the feeling. Ever since he became half-ghost, his body temperature dropped dramatically and most places felt too warm for him. Then, after he finally mastered his ice powers and cold ghost core, the ice and snow always felt welcoming. His human half still couldn’t handle extreme freezing temperatures, but out here with the wind and the light snowfall, it felt perfect.

“Hey Norman,” Danny greeted as he leaned against the icy railing.

“Hi,” Norman greeted in his normal shy manor.

Danny took a breath and let the feeling of calm wash over him. Standing next to Norman always felt peaceful and relaxing. Usually, his ghost half was agitated. The ghost side of him always wanted to move, to fight, to protect. Even on the most relaxing of days, there was that feeling inside of him telling him that something wasn’t right and he needed to do…  _something_.

But with Norman next to him, the ghost part of him felt at peace. Danny knew it was a Medium thing. It was no wonder ghosts responded so well to Norman.

But right now, even though Danny felt at peace, he could tell that Norman wasn’t.

“Are you okay?” Danny asked, glancing at the boy out of the corner of his eye.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Norman said almost too quickly.

“I can tell my parents to tone it down if you want,” Danny suggested. “I know they get a little… excited when it comes to ghost stuff. It can be kind of overwhelming.”

Norman shook his head, a small smile on his face. “No, it’s fine. I don’t mind, actually. Usually it makes me kind of uncomfortable when people ask me questions, but they’re just… really nice about it.”

Danny chuckled. “That’s my parents. They can be a lot to handle, but they mean well.”

There was a silence between them as the two of them listened to the sound of the city and the rumble of the cars passing by.

“Danny can… can I ask you a question?” Norman asked suddenly.

“Sure, what’s up?”

“You’re parents are ghost hunters, right?”

Danny raise his eyebrow. He hasn’t been sure what he expected Norman to ask, but it definitely wasn’t that.

“Yeah, they are, but they’re starting to understand that there are good ghosts too. It’s been sort of hard for them, but they’re getting there.”

“I was just wondering... When they finally found out you were half-ghost did they… I mean, were they okay with it?” he asked in a small voice.

Danny’s stomach lurched as he looked down at the younger kid. Why did he want to know about that that?

Norman seemed to suddenly realize that he might have asked something too personal and he turned to Danny with a frantic look. “I’m sorry, that’s weird for me to ask. You- you don’t have to answer that!”

Danny rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “No, it’s okay.” Danny looked out into the city, finding it easier to talk about this kind of stuff when he wasn’t looking directly at Norman. “I mean, they didn’t take it well, if that’s what you’re wondering. I think what hurt them the most was finding out that they have been hunting me all this time. And then there was that whole shattering of their world view about ghosts thing. That was pretty hard. But uhh… now everything is pretty good.” Danny shifted uncomfortably. “They get I’m still their son even though I’m half ghost and they are even trying to get along with some of my ghostly allies. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s worth it. It’s nice to not have to hide.”

Norman nodded. “Oh, that’s good,” he said softly.

Danny looked over at Norman. “Why did you ask?”

Norman glanced up at Danny and then looked away, squirming uncomfortably under his gaze.

“No real reason. I guess I was just wondering if they ever ignored the fact that you have powers. If they don’t like ghosts, then they might not want to think about it or talk about it-”

“Are you kidding?” Danny interrupted with a loud laugh. “ _My_  parents? They might not like ghosts, but they are fascinated by them. In the beginning, they wouldn’t stop asking me questions about my powers and they would always ask me to show them what I could do. Jazz eventually had to ask them to lay off a bit because their curiosity was getting in the way of my ghost fighting.”

“Oh, okay. That makes sense. I was just wondering,” Norman said quickly. He was looking out over the city but his eyes didn’t seem to be focused on any one thing.

“Do… your parents ignore your powers?” Danny ventured timidly.

Norman shrugged. “It’s not their fault. I know it makes them feel uncomfortable. At least they believe me now, so it’s better than it was, you know?”

“Maybe it will just take time,” Danny suggested. “They just have to get used to it.”

Norman shrugged again and Danny had the feeling he said the wrong thing. He really didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t good at giving advice like his sister, and he wasn’t great when it came to dealing with parents. Danny felt like he had made all the wrong decisions when it came to his own parents, so he didn’t really feel like the right person to help Norman.

“It’s nice that your parents are so accepting of you powers,” Norman said giving Danny a sincere smile. “It seems like they really understand you.”

“Uh, yeah, most of the time I guess,” Danny agreed awkwardly.

“There you two are,” a familiar voice called. Danny turned around to see his mother step onto the roof.

“Hi mom.”

“Hi Mrs. Fenton.”

“Norman, dear, I keep telling you that you can call me Maddie.”

Norman shifted his feet awkwardly. “Right, sorry.”

His mom let out a soft sigh. “Danny, why are you out here without your coat?” she asked as she held up his red winter coat. “It’s freezing out here and you’re wearing short sleeves! I don’t want you catching a cold before you go back to school!”

Danny sighed. “Mom, I told you, I don’t catch colds anymore. And I don’t feel cold the same way I used to. I’m fine.”

His mother frowned and walked up to him, holding out his coat to take. “Just because you don’t feel the cold doesn’t mean you have to expose yourself to the elements. Please just wear the coat, Danny.”

Usually, Danny would feel annoyance at his mother’s insistence, but Norman’s presence helped keep him calm, so he managed to bite back any sarcastic remarks.

“Fine, but I’m going to overheat in this thing,” Danny said as he slipped the heavy coat on.

“Well, I would rather you overheat then have your fingers freeze off with frostbite.”

“Mom,” he said in exasperation. “I have ice powers. I can’t get frostbite.”

“Well, you may have ghost powers, but you’re still human too,” his mother countered briskly. “Just… humor me, okay Danny?”

“Okay mom,” he said and he hoped she didn’t hear the hint of bitterness in his voice. He knew she was just being a mom.

“Thank you, sweetie. Now, don’t stay out here too long, okay you two?”

“Don’t worry, we won’t,” Norman assured her.

As soon as his mother went down the stars, Danny sighed and ran his hands through his hair in exasperation. He then suddenly remembered that he wasn’t alone and gave Norman a sheepish smile.

“Sorry about that. I know she means well, but sometimes I feel like she doesn’t really get that I’m not human anymore.” Danny chuckled humorlessly. “And here you were saying how nice it was that my parents understood me.”

“I’m sure she’s just worried about you,” Norman supplied. “It was kind of strange to see some without any kind of coat on out here.”

“I know, I’m probably being too harsh,” Danny admitted. “It’s not really her fault. She only just found out about my powers five months ago, and honestly, I’m not even sure what  _I_ am half the time. I can’t expect her to wrap her head around me being not-completely-human-anymore so easily.”

“And even though she might not always understand, she’s willing to talk to you about it. That’s…. better than nothing.”

“Yeah, that’s true… and my parents do try and listen.” Danny glanced down at Norman guiltily. Maybe he shouldn’t be complaining about his problems with his own parents who had accepted him unconditionally when Norman couldn’t even have a real conversation with his own parents. “Have you ever tried to talk to your parents about it?”

Norman shrugged. “I translate for my deceased Grandma sometimes. I know it makes my parents uncomfortable, but they do talk back to her. Other than that… not really. ”

“Do you think that maybe they really want to talk to you about your gift?”

Norman raised an eyebrow at Danny. “Have you met my parents?”

“No really!” Danny insisted. “Maybe they want to talk to you about it, but they don’t know how. I’m sure they probably have a bunch of questions, just like my parents did, but they don’t know how to go about talking to you about it.”

“I guess that could be possible,” Norman admitted. “We don’t really talk about things in my family.”

“I don’t know if this would help, and I’m not really great at giving advice, but maybe if you talked about your powers more they would feel more comfortable talking to you about it too?”

Norman was starting to lose the feeling in his fingers so he stuck his hands in his pockets. “I guess I could try that. It’s hard though…”

“Believe me, I know,” Danny said earnestly. “I totally get not wanting to talk to your parents about ghost stuff. But you can’t expect them to know what to say when you don’t talk about it either. Just like I can’t expect my mom to get the half-ghost thing all at once.”

“That’s pretty smart,” Norman admitted. “Maybe you’re better at giving advice than you think.”

“Heh, or maybe I’m just hanging out with my sister too much.”

“I’ll try it,” Norman said. “It will be awkward at first, but at least it will be awkward for all of us and not just me.”

“Family stuff is always awkward,” Danny assured him “My dad once took me ghost hunting to hunt myself. Now that’s awkward.”

Norman chuckled.

“I told you they would be up here!” Danny heard Tucker shout. Danny and Norman turned around to see Sam and Tucker climbing up onto the roof.

“Hey guys,” Sam greeted.

“‘Sup dudes,” Tucker said with a friendly grin towards Norman.

“Hi again,” Norman greeted.

“What’s with the coat Danny?” Sam asked as she walked up next to him and pulled on his coat sleeve. “Your mom?” she asked.

“Yep. She’s worried that I’ll freeze to death or something.” Danny said while rolling his eyes.

Sam raised her eyebrow. “She is aware you’re a half-dead ghost hybrid with Cryokinetic powers, right?”

“I don’t think it’s fully sunk in yet.”

“That’s parents for you,” Sam said with a scowl. “I’m still trying to convince mine that I will burn anything frilly or colorful that they even try and place in my closet.”

“Yeah, but Danny’s parents aren’t half as bad as yours,” Tucker said. “I’m sure they’re catch on eventually. In the meantime, that coat makes it easier to do this!”

Tucker grabbed a ball of snow in his gloved hand, grabbed Danny’s jacket before he could respond, and shoved the ball of snow down the back of his neck.

Danny whirled around, a look of bewilderment on his face as Tucker giggled to himself.

“Did you… just… pick a snowball fight with someone with ice powers?” Danny asked incredulously.

Norman’s eyes grew wide has he watched Danny’s hand glow and a perfectly sculpted snowball formed in the palm of his hand.

“Oh crap,” Tucker said as he ducked to avoid the first snow ball and then sprinted away to take cover behind a pile of wooden boxes filled with equipment. 

Danny followed after him, pelting his friend with a never ending barrage of snowballs.

“Ah, Sam help!” Tucker said as he ran to her for cover. His barrette was knocked off from a well-placed snowball and his shoulders and scarf were covered in snow. Tucker placed the girl between himself and Danny and grabbed her shoulders like she was a shield. “Sam is base!” he called.

“I am not! You two keep me out of this!”

“Let’s see if Sam can protect you from this,” Danny said as he dropped to his knees and placed his hand on the snowy ground.

Nothing seemed to happen at first, but then Tucker yelped as ice crystals began to form from the ground onto his boots.

“Hey! That’s not fair!” Tucker shouted as he struggled to pull his boots off the ground before they became completely frozen. Tucker managed to get free and ran out from the cover of Sam, scooping up snow as he went.

“If you guys keep this up, one of you is going to slip off this roof and it’s not going to be the one can fly!” Sam called after them.

“Stop trying to ruin our fun!” Tucker shouted back as he currently seemed to have given up dodging Danny’s snowballs and instead just focused on pelting his friend with as many as possible.

Unfortunately, his aim was a little off, and one of his snowballs went flying right into Sam’s face.

The snowball hit her square in the nose, and as the snow dripped off her face, she stood glaring at Tucker.

Danny and Tucker couldn’t seem to help themselves. They both broke out into loud laughter.

“That’s it, you two are so dead,” Sam said as she picked up a snowball of her own. “Come on Norman. Don’t just stand there.”

Norman laughed. “What happened to staying out of it?”

“Someone has to teach these two dorks a lesson.”

“Well, good luck, Tuck,” Danny said as he disappeared into thin air.

“Hey, that’s not fair!” Tucker protested. “No going invisible, you cheater!”

“Where’s the ghost tracker when you need it?” Sam muttered to herself as she looked around, the snowball in her hand, ready to strike.

“Truce until we find Danny?” Tucker offer her nervously.

Sam’s answer was to throw a snowball straight into his face. Tucker yelped and ran to hide behind the boxes of equipment again.

“I’ll take that as a no…”

Sam scooped up another snow ball, her eyes scanning the rest of the roof.

_Thwack!_

Sam jumped and turned around only to see what looked like the remains of a snowball floating in midair squished against some invisible force. Danny blinked back into view, snow covering his face and tumbling down the front of his jacket.

Sam’s mouth fell open as she turned to look at Norman in surprise. “How did you know he was there?” she asked impressed.

Norman shrugged. “I could just tell where he was,” he explained with a hint of embarrassment.

Danny wiped the snow from his face. “Even when I’m invisible?” Danny asked with an impressed grin. “That’s pretty cool.”

“No, it’s awesome!” Tucker shouted from his cover. “Now we have a defense against Danny’s sneak attacks!”

“Well, we’ll see about that!” Danny said, going invisible once again.

Norman laughed and Danny felt proud he could give the young boy a break from this thoughts. He knew what it was like to be fourteen and to worry endlessly about what his parents would think of him, if they would understand him, or even accept him for who he really was. He hoped things would work out for Norman like they worked out for him- maybe not perfect, but better than he ever expected.

Having briefly met them, Danny had a feeling that Norman and his parents would be okay eventually. It would take time, but if they were willing to try, they would be okay. And if they weren’t okay, Danny was determined to make sure Norman knew that he was always welcome with his own family, because having people that cared about you and who you could count on no matter what… that was the best feeling in the world.


End file.
